Alaska's Foreclosures Third-Lowest
in the NationForeclosures Fell in 2008
in Ketchikan

June 17, 2009
Wednesday

Housing experts across the nation are comparing housing woes
and foreclosure rates to those of the Great Depression. But you
don't have to be an octogenarian to remember such hard times
for the Alaska housing market. The recent spate of foreclosures
in the national headlines may remind a few sourdoughs of the
late 1980s bust in Alaska when jobs were slashed, entire residential
blocks were turned over to the banks and more than 8 percent
of the state's population fled to the Lower 48.

Click on graphic to
view a larger image.
Graphic courtesy TRENDS

According to Alaska Economic
TRENDS, a magazine published by the Alaska Department of Labor
and Workforce Development, the national credit collapse will
ripple through the Alaska economy in unpredictable ways, but
despite weaknesses in other markets around the country, Alaska's
housing market has so far shown resilience compared to the nation
as a whole by many indicators, particularly foreclosure rates.
Alaska foreclosure rates have remained low compared to the nation's,
owing to the health of the state's housing market and its economy
as a whole.

The Alaska Department of Labor
and Workforce Development collects foreclosure data based on
public records. An analysis of the numbers dating back to 1980
revealed that there were 1,131 foreclosures in Alaska in 2008,
a 36 percent increase from 2007.

The increase in the number
of foreclosures in 2008 was largely driven by the Anchorage and
Palmer Recording Districts. The Anchorage Recording District
had 458 foreclosures in 2008, 152 more foreclosures than in 2007.
The Palmer Recording District had 275 foreclosures in 2008, 88
more than 2007.

Outside Southcentral Alaska,
the foreclosure picture is prettier. The Fairbanks Recording
District had only nine more foreclosures in 2008 than the prior
year. The Juneau Recording District had only one more foreclosure
in 2008 than it did the year before.

The number of foreclosures
fell in 2008 in the Kenai, Ketchikan
and Kodiak Recording Districts.